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Author Notes:This is a quick version of the classic Portuguese pairing of fish and pork, often done with clams or other fish as a stew known as a cataplana. I didn’t have wherewithal to manage a cataplana so I improvised after buying cod at a farmer’s market. The key ingredients, beside the cod, are linguica, a smoked sausage from Portugal, and a preserved sweet red-pepper paste, massa de pimentao. My Portuguese mother-in-law and her siblings used to make both each year, keeping me regularly supplied, but the tradition is waning with advancing age, alas. Linguica's main ingredients are wine, garlic and massa de pimentao, which this recipe echoes. If you can’t find linguica, you can substitute chorizo or another spiced, smoked pork sausage. You can make your own pepper paste (http://food52.com/recipes/14420_jean_andersons_sweet_red_pepper_paste_brmassa_de_pimento) or there’s an easy shortcut in this recipe, which works fine. There are endless variations to this. You can adjust the ingredients fit the amount of fish you’re cooking, whether for one or ten. You can use any firm white fish. I’ve also done it with hake and monkfish. Sometimes I add potatoes, sometimes onions; other herbs like thyme or oregano also work, depending on one’s mood. You can also substitute canned tomatoes, but it makes the sauce thicker and more cloying (though not in a very bad way). It’s best to use an oven proof frying pan large enough to hold the fish for the roasting, which has the added benefit of making it a one-pot meal. —Steven Lee Myers

In an oven-proof frying pan, heat the oil over medium and brown the linguica, roughly 10 minutes. Don't worry if it falls apart, as the real stuff is apt to do.

Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or two. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Add the wine to deglaze the pan

While the linguica is cooking core, seed the red pepper, and put in a blender or food processor with a half teaspoon of salt until it becomes a coarse paste, and add that. If you have massa de pimentao already, add three heaping tablespoons

Add the tomatoes and bay leaf and then let the sauce simmer and breakdown, 15 to 20 minutes. If it gets thick, add more wine or water. It should be a little soupy. Taste for salt.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while the sauce simmers.

Salt the cod and nestle the pieces in the sauce, put the pan in the over and roast until done, 10 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of the cod, checking frequently.

Set the fish on individual plates and spoon the sauce around or over it. Garnish with parsley.

Made this last night with garlic/red pepper pork sausage and added onions and some chopped eggplant. I also substitued the sweet bell pepper paste for a hot pepper paste - I like things spicy! It was amazing!

After making this dish several days ago, I was ridiculously enthusiastic about sharing my thoughts. You see, not only did the dish turn out wonderfully, it also was my first time making a recipe from the food52 pages.

But, something crazy happened: El Derecho.
Who would think a line of thunderstorms along the Mid-Atlantic region would topple over a gazillion trees which would topple over a kajillion power lines? As a result of 40 stormy minutes of Mother Nature kick-assery, we lost power for days and my verve for doing a recipe follow up was hampered by a lack of electrical and phone access and trying to find entertainment in 99 degree heat and without social media. I'm here to say that it can be done.

But, alas, it is about this recipe and, as I mentioned earlier, it was delicious. I used the suggested chorizo instead of linguica because the latter was .... M.I.A. Chorizo, on the other hand, was readily available in the form of Mexican style, Argentinian style, Guatemalan style, El Salvadoran style and Bolivian style. But, maybe I'm making that last one up. I don't know. I do know that I stared at those sausages for a full 5 minutes trying to decide which style I was going to buy.
I did include dried rosemary and dried oregano (our garden beds overfloweth). Also, I used two red peppers instead of one and about 6 garlic cloves because, frankly, I was trying to get rid of them before they went bad. The three little tomatoes I had were not giving me much of a liquid so I added a 15 ounce can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes. In order to perfectly time the dish for serving, I ended up simmering it much longer than stated (for example, ~35 - 40 minutes) before popping it in the oven with the fish for a roast. Finally, consider serving this with corn polenta, hardened a bit in order to slice it. I know; it's a stew. But, I did it and it totally worked.
Enjoy (and if you actually read this long reply post then... then... wow).

Here in Toronto many Middle Eastern and/or Turkish stores sell an excellent red pepper paste in jars that makes a great, ready made substitute. Keeps in the fridge for a week or three after opening too.